Newsletter

Student Teaching (Internship)

The Teaching Internship is the highlight of the Residency Teacher Certification Program at SPU, and its final phase. This is an opportunity for you to put into action the skills you've learned in class and field work. The Teaching Internship is a time for polishing skills, refining your philosophy of managing a classroom, and demonstrating subject-matter knowledge necessary to successfully teach the Washington State Learning Standards.

The Co-Teaching Model

The SPU Teaching Internship is based on a co-teaching model, where you will collaborate with a mentor teacher to deliver instruction to students. You will be assigned to an experienced mentor teacher, with whom you will work collaboratively in planning, teaching, and assessing your students. There are specific co-teaching strategies that will be learned and practiced, including an opportunity to "solo" and assume complete responsibility for the instructional program for a period of time.

The Teaching Experience

The School of Education arranges and formalizes all student-teaching placements. You may, however, indicate your internship location preferences when applying for the Teaching Internship.

As a teacher candidate, you will typically become involved in your internship classroom immediately. Because of the level of collaboration between you and the mentor teacher, you'll be seen by pupils as a "real teacher" from the beginning of the experience.

The teacher candidate is expected to be involved in all duties normally required of a professional educator. You should arrive when teachers are expected to arrive and stay until teachers are allowed to leave. Additionally, you should attend any activities that would be expected of a classroom teacher, including after-school activities such as special meetings or open houses.

Successful teacher candidates contribute ideas and are willing to assist in accomplishing whatever is necessary for an effective learning environment. It is not unusual for teacher candidates to arrive earlier and to stay later than other school personnel; this is often necessary to meet the demands of the Teaching Internship.

Objectives

The objectives of the student teaching experience at SPU focus on preparing teacher candidates to teach and manage effectively in his/her future professional classroom assignment. Specifically, Seattle Pacific expects that teacher candidates will demonstrate: